Frightening Synergies

I can't exactly remember how it came up in conversation at Mary's Sunday night, but it turns out that someone actually makes a plush replica of the horse head from the Godfather. (via BoingBoing)

Weekend Fireworks Roundup

Since I’m fairly certain that the Memphis blogsphere will cover this weekends two big downtown fireworks shows fairly well, I feel compelled as the one blogger from out here in East Jesusland (which is apparently any point beyond East Parkway) to talk about the goings on in the rest of Shelby County.

Saturday – Chandler, Daniel, Mary, Amber and I hit Shelby Farms for the “Star Spangled Celebration.” I learned from last year that attempting to press into the mass of teenagers swarming around the stage made for a somewhat distracting firework event, so we grabbed seats above a small pond just northwest of Patriot lake; lots of families and one exceptionally friendly dog out that way, not so much with the underage drunks.

We got there half way through the set of a pretty decent cover band that I’d never heard of. There was then a lot of indistinct yelling into a microphone followed by Hoobstank (who did a fair amount of indistinct yelling of their own). I’d never heard of them and if this show was indicative of what they usually play, I could really care less if I ever hear them again. There was one good song which was apparently their radio single.

The fireworks were pretty damned awesome. They also had the only patriotic medley this year to include Ray Charles (which is strangely important to me). Unlike the two other shows we saw this weekend, there’s no real way to get close to these, so you may as well sit back away from the crowd and soak it in. This was mine and Amber’s second year for this and it’s so totally worth the five bucks for parking (and the hike in). Traffic going out was particularly nasty since as we approached the parking lot the ratio of fun seeking families to obnoxious drunks began to reach parity.

Sunday -- Dinner at Mary’s. Not a public fireworks event, but pretty awesome chow.

Monday – Anna, Amber and I hit the Bartlett Fireworks Extravaganza; smaller crowd, better concessions, much funkier cover band, and much closer seats. The event takes place every year on the lawn of the Bartlett Performing Arts Center and are staged from the parking lot of Appling Middle School. From the south side of the lake you can look up or down to see the fireworks. It’s a pretty effect.

It was a longer show than last years and the shells were easily as large as those at Shelby Farms, including a few I’d never seen before. There was also, unfortunately, some sort of accident. Mary said that it was reported on the news that nobody was hurt, but about three quarters of the way through the show there were 6 symmetrical fireballs very close to where the caution tape was. We could feel the heat off of the blasts all the way across the water… I can only imagine what it felt like to the people in the front stands.

Tonight (July 4th) – Mary, Anna, Amber, and I made it out to Germantown for their annual fireworks show. I’m not sure how big the crowd was for the festival (which is apparently an all day thing) because we came in the back way and wound up sitting about 40 feet from the police safety line. These were without question the best seats I’ve ever had for a fireworks show. Paper from the shells was falling around us… we’re talking fiery death from above here! It was probably the shortest of the shows we saw this year but the rockin’ seats made up for it.

I have to give props to all of the public safety officials we encountered this weekend. Unlike some of the events I’ve gone to in Memphis in the past, everybody this weekend was polite, courteous, and efficient. Being polite when telling people for the umpteen-billion-and-sixth time that you can’t sit past the caution tape takes a special bit of effort. We the spectators appreciate it.

***

On a completely different note, while I’ve been typing this, Amber has been watching Zathura behind me (think Jumanji in space) and I’m unavoidably reminded of this.

Things you learn by listening to NPR

Did you know that all of the poems of Emily Dickinson can be sung to the tune of Yellow Rose of Texas? Go on, try it... you know you want to...

I decided against the Haiku

I know that for artists in Memphis, not doing the South Main Trolley Tour is sacrilege, but neither Amber nor I were really feeling up to it. It’s been a very long week and tonight was hotter than it’s been all summer, so we decided that if we had to see just one show tonight it was going to be the Lantana show of Anne-Marie James at the Medicine Factory.

First a word about the space: I think the Medicine Factory is now my favorite display space in Memphis. The website for the gallery describes it as being intended for installation and “on site experimental” work and it almost seems as if the 96 year old McConnon & Co building were purpose built for it. The front half of the ground floor is the main gallery space, with a nice open plan that still provides for nooks and crannies that allow work to jump out and surprise you (including a few nooks that would be perfect for isolated screening video work). It’s a little out of the way (of course we live in East Bugtussle), but if they keep up the quality of the tonight’s show they’ll definitely stay on my must see list.

Now for the work itself: I admit that I’m always a little scared walking into these “visiting artist” types of shows. I remember enough of my first impressions of Memphis a scant four years ago that I walk in to any such exhibition fearing that I’ll see more photographs (or paintings) of Graceland, Pop Tunes, and the Hi Tone because those are the things that are most likely to make an impression on visually attuned people first coming to Memphis. And truth be told, in some ways the work tonight fell prey that, but it did so in the most wonderful and fascinating ways.

Present are all of the familiar Memphis landmarks but for once I felt like I was seeing them as the artist sees them, rather than as the artist telling me what to see. James shows us her Memphis in both the familiar and the obscure; the work is full of the sort of minor architectural details that each of us will know, but none of us can quite place. The center piece of the show is a floor-to-ceiling mobile composed of dozens of 4 inch square photographs.

In its presentation, it demonstrates the polished awareness of space usually only seen in sculptors and architects. It’s rare that a show of photography can have a sense of interiority beyond what the camera’s depth of field can show us. “Mobile” however allows the viewer a rare glimpse inside the impressions and half remembered tangle of moments that make up the memory of a place in time. Suspended in an indefinite physical and mental space, each photograph bares the embossed name of the artist, making them feel almost like phenomenological dog tags; branding them each as visions that we can share, but however familiar, they cannot be our own.

Taking a break from the Chaos to post this...

So it’s probably no secret to any of the two of you who read this that my wife and I do the art opening circuit just about every Friday night. There are blogs around that already cover this scene (with varying degrees of thoroughness), but I’ve seriously been thinking about entering the fray. The problem is that I’m not entirely sure how to write about it.

Problem 1: My complete lack of authority about the subject. I’m not an artist nor an art historian. I’ll save you my “criticism is dead, long live criticism” spiel just at the moment, but even forgoing that I’m just not entirely sure I know enough about art to write about it in an interesting way; I just see a damned lot of it.

Problem 2: Mechanics. I lack a hook.

should i write
like e e cummings
forgoing
punctuation and grammar
for style

or perhaps entirely in Haiku (Memphis-art renga style):

“Good glass in Midtown
Material is crowded
The wife and I bailed”

and demand only two-line comments of seven syllables each from my readers on the subject of the moon or cherry blossoms?

Problem 3: Feeling the need to be honest. I don’t like the idea of only writing about what I like, because it would feel like I’m bullshitting you. There’s some really good art being shown in Memphis, but there’s also some that (in my opinion) sucks. Only writing about the good stuff (or only writing about my friends) is poison; it’s a feedback loop that would ultimately hurt my ability to look at work objectively or write about it intelligently.

The flip side of that is that it’s a small scene and my wife still has to make a living in it so I don’t want to piss anybody off. I’ve discovered recently that you don’t even have to be particularly critical to do this. Failure to be sufficiently effusive is apparently a black-listable offense in this town.

All that said, all I’ll say about last Friday night’s openings is this: We went to 1688 and I liked it. The artist was a very nice person and I’ve not seen work in that vein shown in Memphis before. Go see it if you get a chance.

The Birdshow... the amazing Birdshow...

And now in lieu of anything even remotely serious, I give you the world’s coolest bird.

How to begin... again...

View from the Brent House (New Orleans)
Originally uploaded by skippytpe.

So here's the thing: just about everyone who reads this knows me. You know what's been going on with me for the last two months and frankly I don't want to re-hash it all in this space. I'd rather assumed I'd post something about it, but on balance I think I'd rather confine my discussions of what happened with mom to the my discussions with each of you. For those of you who read this and don't know me, my profile is linked to my gmail account. If you want to know, please e-mail me... I don't bite.

But here's my problem: I don't know how to write without talking about it. I feel like I should be blogging (I'm seeing neat stuff and generally trying to move on with my life), but I feel weird not blogging about it.

For now, here it is: I'm back. I'm blogging. More to come...

More Blender Coolness

I've not been feeling very blog-tastic the last few days... my energies have been taken up preparing a slew of new materials for my professional practice blog, but I just had to share this. The latest of Roy's blender classes was this past Friday where we learned to make camera's move along a curve (512kb Windows Media video file). The finished version in the class was actually cooler than mine because it they did tracks on the roller coaster, but I had to leave before Roy got to dupliframes.

For those of you who I've been pestering with this stuff, Roy has made positive noises about re-teaching his Intro to Blender classes this summer. Especially for the artsy folk amongst you, this thing is awsome for doing visualizations of architectural spaces (oh say, for installation work) as well as creating ground breaking new work.

Did I mention that it's free and you can do it on your Mac?

Hobbies

As odd as it may sound, my dad tracks bears in his spare time. For the past few summers he’s been trying to help the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks keep track of a Mississippi Black Bear. It's really cool work these folks are doing, trying to restore these creatures to their natural habitats. As a result of all this, some of the people he’s worked on this with send him pictures of the bears they’re tracking from time to time. What’s pictured here is a new litter of cubs taken sometime last month by one of the wildlife biologists (click on it for a larger version). I think that's a gig I could really like (overlooking, of course, the fact that I'm completely unqualified).

Things that aren't depressing

As a wonderful distraction from the suckfest that was life earlier in the week, I went to the third of Roy's classes in Blender. We covered the basics of materials and textures today. For those who remember hearing Amber and I talk about it, the first two classes were dedicated to creating an animated Gingerbread man. Here's Amber's version and here's mine; both video's are WMV files because it was the only encoder I could get to at the time... sorry 'bout that. If you put the video on repeat, it kinda looks like he's walking.

out of town

Not sure when the f@#$ this became the disaster blog, but since most everyone I know reads this it's just easiest to post this news here.

My mother has been hospitalized with possible liver failure. Amber and I will be out of touch for the next few days. Mary has been kind enough to agree to watch our cats and fish. If you need to find us in an emergency, she'll have contact info.

Infinite degrees of separation

Neighbors house (lost everything)
Originally uploaded by skippytpe.

This house down the street from us burned down Sunday night. Amber and I were headed back home from the video store and were cut off by a fire marshal turning toward our home. It kind of made my stomach churn.

We parked and walked up to where we could see the fire was engulfing someone else’s home. As we stopped in the front yard of some people I’d met once before, a woman approached from a side street and let out the most soul wrenching wail I’ve ever heard come from another human being. Panic doesn’t begin to describe the sound. She couldn’t find her husband or her children; you don’t make that sound over lost things. I still don’t know if she ever found them.

When I was growing up, my little town of Vicksburg, Mississippi maybe had 15,000 people in it. As odd as it may sound, even in a town that size you at least tangentially know everyone. You may not know them by name, or by face, but six degrees of separation easily collapses into one or two.

But here in Memphis, I didn’t know these people. I wish I did. They lived less than a quarter of a mile from me for the past year and I don’t even know their names. At the time, I was pretty sure I’d talked to the ladies husband once while out on a walk, but now I’m not even so sure of that. I wish I could be sure. I wish I could offer them some bit of solace or support, but I can’t.

Then again, I’m not sure anyone can.

Rebuilding the New Orleans Public Library

The New Orleans Public Library is taking book donations to rebuild their collections which were destroyed in hurricane Katrina. If you have any books you'd like to donate, or know people who do, the address to send the donation to is:

Rica A. Trigs, Public Relations
New Orleans Public Library
219 Loyola Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70112

(via boingboing)

Snow in Memphis (Redux)

Whatever you may think of the strip itself, the map in this comic pretty much sums up the reaction of most of Memphis...

I never paid attention to the lyrics of that song

Tim and Elizabeth exchanging vows
Originally uploaded by skippytpe.

I'll write more about it later, but I need to go run some errands. Amber and I just got back in town and I have to go to work tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy pictures of Tim and Elizabeth's wedding.

Snow in Memphis

Snow in Memphis
Originally uploaded by skippytpe.

Even money says that if I went to Kroger right now there would be lines to the back of the isles of people carrying bread, water, and beer. Not sure what they always need extra beer for, but it's a certainty in Memphis that there will be a massive beer run whenever anyone on the news mentions snow. mmmmm... beer...

My office actually closed up early today and there is talk of canceling all Saturday classes as well. The drive home was blessedly uneventful. There was apparently a wreck on Summer back towards Kirby, but we didn't have to wait too long for the traffic to clear (maybe 20 minutes). This should make the drive to Tim and Elizabeth's wedding tomorrow extra fun though :-)

[edit] Here's a link to my mini-set of snow pictures... I'll hopefully add to it tomorrow.

Friday night artness

Amber and I went art show hopping last night. Amongst the Memphis regulars (including an truly excellent piece by Jeff Mickey down at the P&H) was a little gem of a show on South Main put on by the MCA illustration department.

The show in question (which is still open this week, including 10-4 tomorrow) is centered around the art of the mini-comic. I've been noticing a trend towards more book art shows in Memphis and I don't consider this a bad thing. With out spoiling it for you, I did want to link to a couple of highlights from the show:

• Tom Gauld
• bb and ppinc
• Ahn Woojung

If are from Memphis (or are prone to road trips) it's something you should definately make time for.

Genius

Pure Genius... (NSFW)

Illness and Linguistics

I’ve spent the last week and a half laid out on the couch. I wish I could say this was a good thing. In reality, it just sucked. All I had the energy to do was surf the web and watch movies. On the upside of that, I can definitely recommend All About Eve, anything ever directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and almost anything written by Billy Wilder; I once would have said any Billy Wilder but then I saw Seven Year Itch. Most of the new movies we rented were crap including, sadly, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (though The Island was a fun bit of escapism).

Before my debilitating illness, I was going to do a thoroughly insightful and thought provoking post on my inexplicable love of critical theory. Though the mood is gone, there are still a few links I want to put down in wax so that I don’t forget them.

First, is Daniel Chandler’s Semiotics for Beginners. For those baffled by post structural linguistics, this is a most excellent place to start. He really does an excellent job of covering all of the bases and even provides something of a textual analysis cheat sheet. Yes, Virginia, the site has apparently been there since time immemorial, but it’s new to me damn-it!

As I got ready to blog the second of them, Dougie Bicket’s Kiss of the Panopticon, I discovered (much to my horror) that it was gone! ACK! This thing was a really well done survey of all things “cultural theory.” Well, here’s a link to an older version so that you can get the idea. I really hope that he gets it back up.

Dig the new tunes

Found a couple of new interesting bits of music this week (both via Boing Boing [1, 2]).

First, I have a new festival to dream of going to (along with Montreaux, Newport, and Burning Man): behold Chillits. MP3’s (and torrents) are available of this year’s participants. I particularly liked DF Tram’s set, but I haven’t made it through them all yet. I also liked his quote about the festival: “This is music best enjoyed horizontally.”

Secondly, CultureBully has posted his ten favorite mashups of the year. There was a healthy smattering of dj BC stuff in there as well as some cat’s I’d not heard of. I’m not sure all of them would land on my personal “best of” list, but they're still very definitely worth your time.